PPB May 2016

FAST

FORWARD

54 •

PPB

• MAY 2016

THINK

WATER COOLER

Patrick Stroh, author of

Advancing

Innovation: Galvanizing, Enabling & Measuring

for Innovation Value!

, says innovations as simple

as reimagined business processes, redesigned

manufacturing applications or even tweaks to

customer service are potential game-changers.

“Hardwiring your culture for small innova-

tions is an organic way to keep everyone

focused on creating customer value,” says Stroh.

Small innovations are quick and easy to imple-

ment, he adds, so you aren’t taking time away

from daily processes. They’re also great for

companies with limited resources.

To ensure innovations have their desired

effect, Stroh recommends following these steps:

Architect a plan.

Align it to your strategic intent.

Prepare the organization for success.

Implement multiple innovation channels to capture,

evaluate and execute ideas.

Measure innovation value and optimize it based on

what you’ve learned.

This process of orchestrating small innovations creates “sys-

temic, continuous innovation that drives value,” he says. “These

innovations lead to quick wins, which in turn build momentum

and boost morale. When employees think up small innovations

that are quickly implemented, they see results right away.

Naturally, they are inspired to repeat the process—so they do.

Success begets more success.”

It’s the

Little

Things

INNOVATION IS A SUREFIRE

WAY to differentiate your business

from the competition, but if you get

bogged down by the belief that inno-

vation must be big, you’ll miss the

opportunities to create small innova-

tions that can have just as noticeable

an impact on your success.

WHY SMALL WORKPLACE INNOVATIONS CAN MAKE

THE BIGGEST IMPACT

By Jen Alexander